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On two species of Curculionidae (Col.) new to the Canary Islands. - Up to now only OBSERVATIONS ON THE LARVAL ECOLOGY OF THE three species of Mecinus (M. circulatus (Marsham), M. longiusculus Boheman and M. pascuorum (Gyllenhal)) and five species of Tychius (Z antoinei Hustache, i? colonnellii STAG CERWS (L., 1758) Caldara, T depauperatus Wollaston, Z stephensi Schönherr and T striatulus Gyllenhal) (COL., LUCANIDAE) IN have been recorded in the Canary Islands (Machado & Oromi, 2000, Elenco de los Coleópteros de las Islas Canarias, La Luguna). BY PAUL F. WHITEHEAD Recently I have examined one specimen of Mecinus variabilis (Rosenhauer, 1856) from Tenerife: La Esperanza, 23.iii.1994, leg. Schön, coll. Borovec (Smidary, ), and two specimens of Tychius elongatulus Desbrochers, 1897, also from Tenerife: Médano In recent years the Lucanus cewus (L.) has been the subject and Arenales de Guimar (Museum de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid). These two species of of concerted interest in Britain. A survey organised by the People's Trust weevil are thus new to the Canary Islands. for Endangered Species in 1998 produced over 10,000 records (Hawes, Mecinus variabilis has a circurnmediterranean distribution and is usually found on 1998; Robb, 2001). Pratt (2003) produced a detailed overview, and found Plantago lagopus L. (Spnck, 2001, Weevil News No. 10), a plant which is also recorded that the larval stage may endure from three to seven years, in accord with from al1 the Canary Islands, including Tenerife (Hansen & Sunding, 1993, Sommerfeltia 17). the wide range of variation in larval longevity of many xylophilous Tychius elongatulus has been reported from North Africa (except Morocco) and Iran, scarabaeoid . Harvey & Gange (2003) provided an instmctive but nothing is known about its biology, although it is almost certain that the host is a species paper on the larval ecology of L. cewus. of Fabaceae, as in al1 other species of the genus (Caldara, 1990, Memorie della Società Italiana di Scienze Naturali e del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano 25: 5 1-2 18). NEW EVIDENCE FROM WORCESTERSHIRE - R. CALDARA, Via Lorenteggio 37,20146 Milano, : June 23rd, 2007. The entomofauna of Bredon Hill in Worcestershire is moderately well- known. Its Coleoptera have been studied by Whitehead (e.g. 1992, 1996) and during the 1990s Dr P. Skidmore worked on Diptera collected from Malaise Traps set by English Nature. Rumoured larval Stag Beetles L. cewus from this site, have, up to now, al1 proved to be large larvae of The response of Pterostichus melanarius (Illiger) (Col., Carabidae) to a summer the Lesser Stag Beetle (L.). It was therefore a riparianflood- On 21 .vii.2007 I was able to observe an autochthonous assemblage of 585 surprise to leam, in November 2003, of a beetle "the colour of a Horse mesophilous on improved grassland, rafted by flood water at the front of the first Chestnut seed, with huge antlers, like a lobster," observed after showers terrace above alluvium of the River Avon at Wick, Worcestershire (VC37, S094 19m during April of that year on the low north-easterly footslope of Bredon O.D.). They comprised Coleoptera (Carabidae, Staphylinidae, Cholevidae, Aphodiidae, Erirhinidae, Curculionidae), Hemiptera (Pentatomidae, Cydnidae, Lygaeidae, Miridae) and Hill. Traditionally, this is a relatively early date in the spring for Stag Hymenoptera (Formicidae). The carabid beetles Amara aenea (De Geer) and Amara Beetles to be seen in England. I have a record of a d on l .v.2000 from the similata (Gyllenhal) were the dominant species, together amounting to 305 individuals. Serra do Gerês in . Although the Bredon Hill site was what would The insects were massed in an area where the flood water was some 33cms deep, conventionally be regarded as a garden, it formed part of the extended through which the foliage of grasses of Lolium perenne L. and Dactylis glomerata L. penetrated. Many carabid beetles clung on to this foliage where it extended above water topography and landscape of hedged and tree-lined fields of the area in level, including 22 adult Pterostichus melanarius (Illiger). The behaviour of this species general. I visited the site on l .v.2004 and observed wooded copses nearby, was of some interest, al1 of the individuals adopting a downward position on the grass with many large sawn dead butts of English Elm Ulmus procera Salisbury foliage some two to three cms below the water surface. Periodically, every minute or so, (syn. Ulmus minor Miller var. vulgaris (Aiton) Richens). Smaller sawn they would reverse upwards, and largely expose the abdomen to the air before stumps of U. procera, some 20-25 cms in diameter, occurred along the resubmerging, presumable to minimise the effect of hydration and to respire. Both the Pterostichus and many of the Amara specimens preferred temporary boundary of the garden. The soil at this point is essentially developed on submersion in this way, rather than dispersion to dry land only one metre or so distant, a lobe of colluvium that has come to rest on the low footslope of Bredon where they could have made easy pickings for predatory . It may also have been a Hill, associated with ancient collapse and outwash from the scarp. With seasonal response strategy, for in winter floods the grass foliage would have been the permission of the landowner one of the elm stumps was lifted and a unavailable. - P.F. WHITEHEAD, Moor Leys, Little Comberton, Pershore, Worcestershire larva of L. cewus was found irnmediately. The larva was situated eight WR10 3EH: U.K.: August 23rd, 2007. . centimetres deep in the soil at the periphery of the stump, and had been consuming the wood from the outside. During my early residence in Little Comberton (VC37 S094) in the 1970s, I engaged in dialogue with many of its longer-established residents to try to determine what they regarded as charactenstic of the biology of the place. Lucanus cewus was never mentioned in recollections extending

26th October, 2007 Vol. 143 (2007) 202 ENTOMOLOGIST'S MONTHLY MAGAZINE ENTOMOLOGIST'S MONTHLY MAGAZINE 203 as far back as the year 1900. Having maintained some interest in the support from 40 to 100 larvae. What makes L. cems special amongst invertebrates of Little Comberton, it proved somewhat chastening to European scarabaeoid beetles is its ability to subsist on dead wood in the discover a larva of L. cewus within the boundaries of my own property, at rhizosphere; it is completely dependent on wood or trees but is not the roots of a sawn elm stump, U. procera, on 23.xii.2006. The sediments arboreal. The larvae of D. parallelipipedus have, in genera1 terms, a are fluvially resorted colluvium. Stumps of U. procera first became marked affinity for the soft dead heartwood of trees delignified by available in numbers in the area about 1973 following the last major basidiomycotine fungi. They are frequently arboreal, ascending wel1 up episode of Elm Disease caused by the introduced fungus Ophiostoma inside the boles of fungoid trees, often for some time prior to their fall. novo-ulmi Brasier, 1991. This evidently provided opportunities for They occur at ground level but are not, in my experience of many L. cewus to proliferate but remain undetected up to now; in this context thousands, truly subterranean in this sense of L. cewus, in agreement with see als0 Hawes (1999), Lewis (1998) and Pratt (2000, p.76). The beetle the findings of Harvey & Gange (2003). found in the garden by Bredon Hill in April 2003 was attempting to hide The closest competitor of L. cewus is the scarabaeid Rhinoceros Beetle in a narrow rock crevice, and such limited evidence of populations is Oryctes nasicornis (L., 1758), the evident absence of which from Britain, likely to escape notice. both now and in the past, seems to be remarkable, given for example its The behaviour of the adult generation in these apparently small, occurrence on small Mediterranean sea-islands. Like L. cems this localised populations, is evidently different to that of those in large widespread species is frequently synanthropic and its larvae readily utilise focussed populations where there is scope for large-scale simultaneous 'loggeries,' although in genera1 they occur in decaying wood and in the interaction of beetles. In parts of Centra1 , L. cewus is associated secondary fill of hollow trees on which they are no less polyphagous than with extensive pasture-woodlands where moribund roots and L. cewus. Microscopic examination of faecal pellets would undoubtedly subterranean wood decays slowly and sequentially, sometimes following throw further light on the larval autecology of L. cewus, which, like some lightning strikes or deliberate firing. Numbers of beetles there are large larval scarabaeids (Whitehead, 2003), are likely to benefit from the and they appear more or less synchronously (cf. Bizely, 1984; Frith, 1999) - presence of hydrolysable tannins in the wood. It would be no surprise to in May, when adult mortality rnay be high (PFW, pers. obs.). There was find that they are als0 facultative predators. some evidence that male mortality at times of mass emergence was higher Lucanus cems is rarely cited in the fossil record, being known mostly than that of females, the males having little useful functionality after from low-lying sites in England in the Prehistoric to early Historic Periods copulation, when they provide a valuable recyclable energy resource. (Girling, 1984; Robinson, 1979). Although characterising prime habitat in many parts of it is not regarded as a strict Urwaldtier. Within the THE FOOD RESOURCE ANTI LARVAL NICHE OF LUCANUS CER WS often humid, closed canopy of Bialowieza Forest in north-east , The larvae of L. cewus have straighter mandibles than those of larval where the mycobiota is exceptionally rich, L. cewus remains elusive, Dorcusparallelipipedus (L., 1758) which distinguishes the two species on legally protected and little-known (Szwalko, Tsinkevich & sight. The mandibles are beset with secondary teeth. Using their chisel- Aleksandrovich, 2001), possibly for climatic reasons. That L. cewus is so tipped dentition the larvae effectively mil1 wood and the differential frequently a synanthropic species in England rnay be a consequence of the development of the mandibular structure permits the two genera to exploit reduction on amenity trees of the woodland mycobiota that would two very different niches. The bodies of L. cewus larvae tend to be cream compete with it. This rnay als0 partly explain why L. cewus prefers rather than white, and what makes them special is their ability to eat somewhat more open situations where the larvae are exposed to ambient moderately indurate lignified wood which is dead or dying, but not climate and insolation (see als0 Harvey & Gange, 2003). If larval necessarily fungoid. Their preference for firm wood is satisfied in longevity was repeatedly extended to its maximum by competition with particular by the proliferation of Ophiostoma-infected elm stumps. This is lignin-degrading fungi, the larvae could become more vulnerable to other a disease of the tree's vascular system and does not degrade wood. extemal influences. A number of dominantly oak-associated wood- Additionally, dead elm wood degrades from slowly to not at al1 in the ' degrading fungi only consume cellulose. presence of soil moisture, so that the larval pabulum of L. cewus is The excavations in wood of larval D. parallelipipedus and L. cewus secured for decades, and in the case of high volume veteran elms, for more are usually distinctive. Because L. cemsfrequently works indurate wood, than half a century (PFW pers. obs., contra Pratt, 2000, p. 81). Describing its mandibles create relatively smooth-sided chambers bearing mandibular the food source of L. cewus simply as rotting wood understates the tooling and surface impressions. These chambers rnay be irregular, exactness and precision with which it and al1 scarabaeoid beetles select forming large cavities which protect the larvae, and in which they remain their breeding niches. Pratt (2003) collated information on larvae at Ulmus somewhat immobile surrounded by a mass of food in constant readiness. in southem England and showed that a single stump of this tree rnay When threatened, they rnay secrete from the mouthparts a noxious fluid 204 ENTOMOLOGIST'S MONTHLY MAGAZINE ENTOMOLOGIST'S MONTHLY MAGAZINE 205 smelling of iodides, observed in other scarabaeoid beetle larvae soil." The terminus post quem for the last instar larva near Purley-on- (Whitehead, 2004). The larvae of D. parallelipipedus are somewhat more Thames is 1999, indicating that its hl1 development could have spamed mobile, since they consume wood which is already itself being consumed five years. by fungi, and a large number may reduce the hearhvood of a standing fangoid tree to a vesicular mass over a period of several years, sometimes REFERENCES maintaining their populations after tree fall. The large, elliptical or Bizely, R., 1984, A surfeit of Stag Beetles, Bulletin of the Amateur Entomologists 'Society, subcircular larval cavities of L. cewus are often so distinctive (Pratt, 2000) 43: 196. that they wil1 diagnose the past occurrence of the species even when Frith, M., 1999, A survey of the Stag Beetle, Lucanus cervus in south London during 1997, London Naturalist, 78: 125-133. larvae are no longer present. Girling, M.A., 1984, Investigations of a second assemblage from the Sweet Track, Somerset Levels Papers, 10: 79-91. LUCANUS CER WSAND SYNANTHROPY Hawey, D. & Gange, A., 2003, The private life of the Stag Beetle (Lucanus cervus), The Bulletin of the Amateur Entomologists 'Society, 62: 240-244. There has been some discussion in recent years on the relative merits Hawes, C.J., 1998, The Stag Beetle Lucanus cervus L. (Co1eoptera:Lucanidae) in Suffoik of conservation strategies such as the establishment of 'loggeries' (e.g. - a first report, Transactions of the Suflolk Naturalists ' Society, 34:35-49. Rose, 2005). Although Pratt (2003) reasoned that "numerical levels only 1999, The Stag Beetle Lucanus cervus L. (Co1eoptera:Lucanidae): the 1998 national survey - an interim report, Transactions of the Suffolk Naturalists' Society, have the opportunity to expand if and when they have been previously 35:71-75. directly impeded" this statement needs to be reconstrued in the knowledge Lewis, K.C., 1998, The Stag Beetle Lucanus cervus Lucanidae in Welling, Kent (TQ4675), that L. cems is one of group of related species which frequently and Bulletin of the Amateur Entomologists 'Society, 57: 158. habitually demonstrate cyclic change in their population levels. Its British Pratî, C.R., 2000, An investigation into the status history of the Stag Beetle Lucanus cervus Linnaeus (Lucanidae) in Sussex, The Coleopterist, 9:75-90. populations result largely from the interactions of humans and trees over 2003, The Stag Beetle in Great Britain, Booth Museum of Natura1 History, time. The Worcestershire experience with field elms discussed here Brighton. 45pp. confirms this; dead elms left in situ always ultimately wind blow. It is Robb, C. (ed.), 2001, Findings of the 1998 national Stag Beetle survey. P.T.E.S., 15 human intervention thst planted a vegetatively reproductive tree in fields Cloisters House, 8 Battersea Park Road, London S.W.8. and human intervention that, for the benefit of Stag Beetles, left only sawn Robinson, M. A., 1979, The biologica1 evidence, pp. 77-133 In: G. Lambrick & M. A. Robinson, Iron Age and Roman Riverside Settlements at Farmoor, Oxfordshire, Council stumps. The establishment of 'loggeries' should therefore be received a for British Archaeology Research Report, 32, London. little more positively than has sometimes been intimated, as the 50 to 100 Rose, V., 2005, Creation and management of Stag Beetle habitats, In: Habitat management larvae at, presumably green, Blackthom fence posts (Hawes, 1998) News. British Mldlife, 16:249-250. confm. Sprecher, E., 2003, The status of Lucanus cervus in , pp. 6-8 In: Bowen, C. (ed.), Proceedings of the secondpan-European conference on saproxylic beetles, Royal On 21.viii.2004 I was invited to inspect a garden developed from Holloway, University of London, 25-27 June 2002. ancient woodland near Purley-on-Thames, above the river in Berkshire Szwalko, P., Tsinkevich, V.A., & Aleksandrovich, O.R., 2001, Lucanidae pp. 148-149, (VC22 SU67, 65m O.D.). A large coppiced ash tree ( In: Gutowski, J.M. & Jaroszewicz, B. (eds.), Catalogue of the Fauna of Bialowieza L.) had been clear-felled in 1996 and the coppice sterns, some 20cms in Primeval Forest, 403pp, Insíytut Badawczy Lesnictwa, Warsaw. diameter, cut into metre lengths. During 1998 these had been placed Whitehead, P.F., 1992, The role of geomorphological processes in the survival of relict entomofaunas on Bredon Hill, Worcestershire, pp. 180-184. In: Stevens, C., Gordon, horizontally on the ground surface to define the edges of omamental plant J.E., Green, C.P. & Macklin, M.G. (eds), Proceedings of the conference Conserving our beds. I found 11 larvae of L. cewus under them, including eight under one Landscape: evolving landforms and ice-age heritage, Crewe, UK., May 1992, log. Of these, one was a first instar larva, and another was a last instar Conserving our Landscape conference organising cornrnittee. larva 72mm long, which had cut a puparium into the wood and had 1996, The notable arboreal Coleoptera fauna of Bredon Hill Worcestershire, England, The Coleopterist, 5:45-53. entered the pre-pupal phase. The pupal cocoon was not composed of soil 2003, The Noble Chafer Aleurostictus nobilis (L.1758) (Col., ) in particles but of chips of ash wood chiselled out by the powerfül mandibles Britain, pp.17-31 In: Bowen, C. (ed.) Proceedings of the second pan-European of the larva; the size of the removals was comparable with those chiselled conference on saproxylic beetles. out of wood by Wood Mice. Like the elm wood in Worcestershire (op. 2004, (Linnaeus) (Scarabaeidae) breeding on Holm Oak Quercus cit.), the ash wood was not colonised by invasive arboreal ilex L. in Somerset, The Coleopterist, 13:23-25 basidiomycotine fungi. In this instance the situation of the puparium cut Moor Leys, Little Comberton, Pershore, Worcestershire WRlO 3EH, U.K. into wood at the contact between the wood and the ground was completely January 20th, 2007. unlike that described by Sprecher (2003) as being "in the soil half a metre or more from a stump" or by Harvey & Gange (2003) as being "in the